NMCA Xtreme Street Event Coverage - 10 1/2 Inches To Glory

Xtreme Street Racers Put It To The Ground Through Small Rollers And Live To Talk About It.

Going fast on 10.5-inch wide tires has been a phenomenon that swept the drag racing community off its big tires since the early '90s. The concept was made famous during the early days of Fastest Street Car racing in a popular category called Super Street. The class was the little brother of the ultra-quick and prestigious Pro Street eliminator. Pro Street catered to the big-money guys and several ex-Pro Stock and Pro Mod racers with tube chassis cars and giant slicks. Super Street, on the other hand, was the heads-up racing class where street racers found a home with their real cars and true 10.5-inch tires. As time evolved, so did Super Street and it turned into a class that caters to back-half rides with unlimited power under the hood and 10.5W (measuring 11.5-inches wide and 33-inches tall) rear tires. Today, the Super Street cars hardly resemble the late-night, grudge-racing machines from those early years.

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The street racing roots have long been forgotten in the Super Street category-but history often repeats itself. During the NMCA reorganization, which started in 2001, the folks at Pro Media Events saw the need to build a category to bring back the popular Super Street-type vehicles from the original days of the street legal drag racing organization. The solution was Xtreme Street, sponsored by Vortech Superchargers, and it emulates the popular category from its humble early years. Vortech Xtreme Street contains the most identifiable cars in the heads-up racing portion of the NMCA sanctioning body due to the cars being real with pragmatic engine combinations. This year the times are mostly in the low 8-second range, with a few competitors eclipsing the 7-second barrier in good conditions. We've noticed a wide variety of combinations this season with big-blocks, small-blocks, nitrous, blowers, and makes and models of all kinds-making the class fun and exciting.

The rulebook calls for a maximum of 10.5-inch wide tires, stock framerails front-to-back, any rear suspension, and stock-style front suspension. Under the hood, NMCA officials have restricted the engines to conventional-headed small- and big-blocks and put a limit on the power adders (nitrous and centrifugal blowers only). The limitations are meant to prevent a severe escalation like with the original category. Some might think the handicap is under the hood, but the real limiting factors are the suspension restrictions, namely the lack of wheelie bars, and true 10.5-inch tires. Tuning the suspension becomes a delicate balance between spin and hook. "The biggest thing is that these cars are heavy and powerful. The big-block cars, like what Cameron Coble and others run, are hard to get moving on a small tire at that weight. Some of them are 3,575 pounds or more. Controlling tire spin is key. The Xtreme Street cars are allowed stock suspension, ladder bars, or a four-link. It's nice to run a four-link; it helps control the hit and the power applied to the tire. That is good when you deal with the tire size and lack of wheelie bars," said Steve Matukas of Matukas Motorsports Race Cars (matukasmotorsports.com). The Kentucky-based chassis shop has built several cars for many top players in the high-stakes game of true 10.5 racing.

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NMCA Xtreme Street Event Coverage - 10 1/2 Inches To Glory

The rulebook states the rear tires must be racing slicks that measure no more than 30 inches tall and 10.6 inches wide. Most competitors rely on Mickey Thompson ET Drag 29.5x10.5 tires or Goodyear Eagle 30x10.5 skins.

Any rear suspension can be utilized-provided the stock framerails are in place, the frame can be notched for rear tire clearance. Jamie Stanton's Camaro features a custom four-link from Pentagon Race Fab, a shop owned by his teammate and crew chief, Jake Holdrege. The Strange shocks are double-adjustable and Holdrege said they are a vital component to their success. This 3,590-pound beast has posted quick 1.25 60-foot times sans wheelie bars and on the 10.5-inch-wide Goodyear slicks.

Steve Cagle leaves the starting line perfectly as his Nova plants the rear tires nicely but doesn't get the front end too high.

Track temperature plays into chassis adjustments. Jake Holdrege hits the zMax Dragway's starting line with his heat gun. The track temp was as high as 133 degrees, which made his life difficult as they went into battle in eliminations.

Tire pressures vary greatly between racers and we have heard everything from 10 psi up to 12 psi. Everyone we talked to said it depends on the weight of the car and the combination. Each racer has a theory that was derived through testing and experience.

Putting the car in the groove is the first step when pulling to the starting line. Steve Matukas brings Cagle to the line, making sure the Nova stays in the sweet spot on the track.

Tyree Smith of Ty Tech Racing Engines works the keys on the laptop. We'd like to say he is surfing chevyhiperformance.com but he's really customizing the timing curve in a customer's MSD 7531 Digital 7 ignition system. He's pulled a few degrees of timing away to help the car hook better. It is one of many tools racers rely on to go low 8s in Xtreme Street trim.

Fred Brunn had a hard time getting a handle on the surface at zMax. His car normally goes right down any track but the extreme surface heat had him blowing the tires away on almost every run.

Check out Pentagon Race Fab's custom adjustable frontend limiters; the limiters can be adjusted in a matter of seconds, which makes it easy for Holdrege to perform quick changes if he sees something on track while Stanton straps into the car.

On good tracks, Stanton is used to rolling to 1.25 60-foot times in his 3,590-pound rocket. Hot and nasty tracks slow that short time to 1.32.

Beadlock wheels have become more common over the past few years. The outer ring (usually on both sides of the wheel) clamp down on the bead of the tire to prevent tire slip. It is a far more effective way to hold the tire on the wheel. Most cars utilize rim screws to achieve the same effect. The beadlock ring technique is recommended for high-horsepower applications.

Videotaping the car is a great way to analyze the effectiveness of changes. Matukas videotapes all of his customer cars and helps them break down the information collected by the data-logger.

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